TAKEN
by FlightlessBirdje
Summary: Just like that… Bella was gone… Taken away from her home….


I wrote this for the Maybe-an-HEA-Contest

******************** TAKEN ********************

by Flightlessbirdje

April 2015

She was 16 when they moved into the house across the street.

Her hair flame red, her skin pale, her eyes bright green and those freckles... She was a total knockout.

It was just her and her father, Charlie Swan, an Irish man.

Her name sounded to me like heaven: Bella Swan ... I checked her name... It means _Devoted to God_... see? Like close to heaven.

She ended up in my class so we had two years in school together before we would probably choose a different college.

Because I saw her walking to school that first day, I offered her to ride with me. Ever since that day we drove together and sat together in school at lunch break and in class if possible.

We became great friends, nothing more... but I loved her anyway.

Never not once did we notice the creep watching her... But he did notice us... Later we would find out he had been watching her since day one.

I can still get angry at myself for it. If one of us had seen him... Maybe nothing would have happened.

You know that question 'What if?' Yeah, ever since the day he took her I have been playing that guessing game.

It was a typical Summer evening... Bella just turned 18 three weeks earlier.

I wasn't home that day, I was at my Summer job, saving for college.

Her dad was fishing with my dad, my mom was home.

Bella had the day off and for what we now know stayed at home.

Twilight was arriving and Bella had talked on the phone with her dad about what they should eat for dinner.

Next thing we know, Bella was gone.

Her purse, her wallet, her phone, her ID… All her important stuff were still at home.

In the garden was her chair with a book next to it, abandoned.

Lemonade on the counter in the kitchen, waiting for the sugar to be put in.

her glasses on the table...

All that was missing was her.

The door to the garden stood open, no traces of a struggle or a break in.

Just an eerie quietness.

Charlie came home at 8 pm. Just like always... and thought she might be with my mom, it was a neighbourhood where you could leave your door open and go visit next door without having to be worried

You didn't need to lock your door at night.

That changed since that day, no more trust, no more peace...

At 8:30 pm. Charlie called my mom, asking to send Bella home for dinner only to find out she was not there.

He checked the house again, maybe he had missed her or overlooked a note saying that she went out.

When he didn't find one, he called me at my work asking if I knew where Bella could be.

Nobody had seen Bella since that morning.

A hour later we all sat at the table, cops questioning us about Bella and her life.

A file about her gone missing was made up, posters were made and a huge search party was organized.

In spite of all the efforts there was no clue about where Bella could be.

The police thought it was strange too and send out an alert nation wide.

We didn't sleep that night, nor the following night.

Bella had just vanished into thin air.

Charlie was a shell of the person he once was.

So was I.

Two weeks had come and gone, but no sign of Bella.

My mom made me go back to school after the first week.

I was there psychically but my mind wandered off.. Bella where are you? Are you alright? Did they hurt you? So many questions, so little answers.

I lost a lot of weight, I couldn't eat or sleep well knowing she was out there somewhere but not knowing what was happening to her.

Everywhere I looked I saw her face, heard her laugh, caught her scent.

If I closed my eyes at night she was the one I saw, only to wake up in sweat and panic. Where could she be?

********************Taken********************

 _Dear me,_

 _How can I tell you how I feel, I have no clue if it is daytime or nighttime. I have no window and only a light in this room._

 _It is cold and it smells._

 _I woke up here, a chain connects me to the wall._

 _There is a bed, a toilet and a sort of shower._

 _I get one meal every so many hours._

 _The person who holds me here doesn't talk or shows his face._

 _For now I haven't been done any harm.. but I can feel it coming._

 _Like it is in the air._

 _Please help me through this._

 _I miss my dad, Edward the boy who secretly stole my heart.. he lives across the street from me._

 _I miss his parents, they are so sweet to me and my dad._

 _Oh no... I can hear him coming..._

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

The police came to the house again, Charlie wanted us with him.

They had nothing new. They do what they can... but there isn't much.

The person who took Bella didn't leave one clue so it seems to be going cold.

I got mad, angry at the world. Bella vanished a month ago and they can't help us anymore.

Charlie just cried, do you know how hard it is to watch a grown man cry? His heart is pulled out of his chest and then burned to ash...

He still isn't able to work, his boss told him to come back in two weeks or else he needs to find a new job.

The world is hard.

Time goes by, we stand still.

I miss you Bella, we all miss you. Be safe please. Come home.

********************Taken********************

 _I feel awful, my body hurts, I am black and blue... I think he broke my wrist._

 _What did I do to deserve this?_

 _I can't cry anymore, I know it won't help and I lose fluids because of it.._

 _My food and water supply is low.._

 _I know it could be worse..._

 _I only get beatings, for now? I don't know..._

 _Do they still search for me? Did they give up hope?_

 _Do they miss me as much as I miss them?_

 _Did he hurt them too? Oh Please let them be safe._

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

It has been three months now and I am beginning to lose hope.. Will I ever see her again?

If I ever see her again, I tell her how much I love her.

How much I missed her, her laugh, her eyes, her touch, her smell...her.

The police are still searching, but with only a few agents.

At school the other kids are getting back to normal life.. How do they do that?

Kids are back playing outside... the birds are singing their songs...

My heart stopped beating...I stopped breathing… It feels like I can't breathe until she is back.

********************Taken********************

 _Help! Is there anybody out there?_

 _I need help._

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

Yesterday the cops arrested a man, we don't know much more.

They told Charlie he was arrested and might know more about Bella.

Please let it be true.

It has been five months

They searched Charlie and Bella's neighbor's house.

It is sealed off.

We haven't seen him for a while now.

Is he the man they arrested?

The police called Charlie and asked him to come to the station.

My dad went with him, mom and I are waiting for them to come back.

Suddenly a lot of police cars and ambulances are in the street.

My mom and I run outside.

They go back into the house from the neighbor.

What will they find?

What or who are they searching for?

********************Taken********************

 _It has been so long since James has brought me food and water._

 _I am so hungry and thirsty._

 _I can't stop shaking_

 _I faint and wake up more frequent._

 _Please find me._

 _Please…_

********************Taken********************

Then we hear lots of screaming.

The medics are summoned inside the house.

Please let it be Bella, let her be alive.

My knees stop working and I fall on the street.

My mom sits next to me.

We cry, we hope, we even start praying. Hoping for our Bella.

The door opens and the medics come out...with a stretcher... and then I see her..

Bella! She looks so tiny..

I rush to her, but I am being stopped by a cop.

"Bella..Bella" I scream.. I cry...

"Is she alive? Tell me... is she alright?" I beg.

I hold hope because it isn't a body bag...

My mom stands by the ambulance... I run to her...

She talks to the police officer, we can't ride with the ambulance... but he is willing to take us to the hospital.

Dad and Charlie are being brought there too.

********************Taken********************

 _Dear me,_

 _I hear them, my angels._

 _They let me know it is over,_

 _they captured James,_

 _they want to bring me to the hospital,_

 _my dad will be there too,_

 _he never stopped looking for me,_

 _I can finally breath again..._

 _I let go of my pain and the darkness takes me into his waiting arms._

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

We have been in the hospital for four days, Bella has been beaten and neglected..

but the bruises and broken bones will heal.

They don't know how she will recover mentally...

Today was the day I got to see her, she asked for me.

She looked so tiny, I cried, I held her hand, her eyes lost their shining. She looked like her spirit was broken.

Bella lost her brightness.

I told her I loved her, that I never stopped looking for her.

That I will be there for her, always. I'll wait for her.

She smiled a very tiny smile, it filled my heart.. made it beat again. There was still a sparkle of herself there.

She will survive, we will survive.

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

 _I am alive, I am free, I am safe._

 _I will heal, I will trust again, I will be 'me' again._

 _He told me he loves me, that he never stopped looking for me, he missed me._

 _He cried for me, he held my hand, he will wait for me._

 _I hope someday I can tell him I love him too. I'll fight this for him, I'll be strong again, I will._

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

The official rapport is shown to Charlie and dad today.

Not something that is usually done, but in this little town things are done differently sometimes.

James Watson, age 38

Confessed to kidnapping Bella Swan age 18, and held her hostage from April 18th till September 25th in the year 2014.

He kept her in a room under his house, which only entrance was a handmade tunnel .

In that room he had placed a bed, a toilet and a shower.

Miss Swan was chained to the wall

He gave her water and food once a day.

He confessed to physical harming her by beating and kicking her all over her body.

Miss Swan sustained 4 broken bones ( - wrist, jaw, toe and finger), multiple bruises and was black and blue when she was rescued.

Her weight had dropped 15 pounds

Watson was heard by officer C. Laurent

C.L.: State your name please

J.W. : James Watson

C.L.: Today is September 22th 2014, correct?

J.W.: Correct

C.L.: You have been told your rights and declined your right of an attorney, correct?

J.W.: Correct

C.L.: Can you tell me your side of the story?

J.W.: Sure

I saw Bella ( miss Swan ) for the first time the day they (miss Swan and her Father Charlie Swan ) moved in next to me.

I watched her putting her stuff in her bedroom, across from my bedroom

She never saw me looking at her.

I was mesmerized from that very first moment... her beautiful red curling hair and pale skin.

From that day I followed her, I saw how she became friends with the boy from across the street and his parents. I saw how she dressed for school, dances, dates,…

I broke in her room when they were gone and read her diary, smelled her clothes, used her shampoo.

I stole a sweater… I slept with that sweater.

They never noticed.

After almost two years it wasn't enough anymore... I needed more. She will be going to college soon, I couldn't have her leave me.

So I planned to keep her with me.

I dug a tunnel under my house with at the end a room. The sand I managed to get rid of at night. I would smuggle cement and what else I needed into my garage and build a cement covered room.

It cost me four weeks to do all that.

I made sure there was a toilet and a shower … Let me tell you, plumbing will not be my new day job.

I also put in a bed and a chain; the chain fixed into the wall of course. I couldn't risk her getting out. I made sure there was an air supply and a camera.

Then I needed to make sure I would not be seen when I took her.

So I decided to make a connection with our power lines. I made a show of working in the garden, you know… new plants and stuff.

Then I cut the power line of the lights outside between our houses, 'per accident' of course.

Together with Charlie I made a temporary fix with his powerline

The next day when he was at work I connected my line with his and made sure that the lights worked again. He never checked it and was happy I fixed it so soon.

Now I could turn out the lights and walk between our houses unseen.

The lights only go on when they detect movements, so they aren't shining all the time.. they would never notice if they didn't work.

So while I was doing all this I made sure I learned her routine more.

And Charlie's too.

I ordered some chloroform on the internet and was ready. All I had to do was waiting for the right time. I was always on standby.

Then I saw my opportunity. On April 18th 2014.

Charlie left early going fishing, the boy was working, Bella had the day off.

So I waited till twilight and turned off the light.

Bella had been sunbathing all day while reading a novella.

She was inside in the kitchen and left the door open. I just simply walked inside, talked with her and the moment she turned her back to me I grasped her. Immediately I put a chloroform drenched tissue on her mouth and she was out like a light in seconds.

I never touched a thing inside the house, so the cops wouldn't find fingerprints or anything else. I had been very careful in executing my plan..

I threw her over my shoulder and walked back to my special created room where I laid her on the bed. I locked the chain on her ankle and tugged on it, making sure it was securely attached..

I turned on the lights, closed the door and went back into my normal routine.

That night I even helped searching for her, fooling everybody. Everyone trusted me, which only helped my plans.

C.L.: So now you had her… What happened next?

J.W.: I watched her on screen and I brought her food and water.

When she slept I watched her sleeping in the room, I mixed some sleeping pills in her food to keep her relaxed.

After a few weeks I lost my job, they said I 'lost my focus and concentration' What a lousy excuse!

I was so angry I made her my boxing ball... It wasn't my intension at first but after a while it felt so good hitting her. Just a way to release my anger.

It became a habit: when I got frustrated.. I would hit her.

Then after she fell asleep I would masturbate while watching her.

That was our routine till you arrested me.

C.L.: So you are saying you only watched and beat / kicked her, never anything else?

J.W.: Yes, that is what I am saying.

C.L.: Why?

J.W.: Why what?

C.L.: Why did you do it?

J.W.: I don't know, it was a need that overtook me.. I needed the presence of her beauty.

C.L: If we had not arrested you, would you ever have let her go? Or would you hurt her more.. maybe even raped her? Or murdered her?

J.W.: Probably both.

C.L.: OK, let's take a break.

********************Taken********************

It had been six months since Bella was rescued, she is going back to school now.

Her wounds have all healed physically, she is seeing to a shrink for her other 'wounds'... I make sure she gets there and back home.

Together with Charlie and my parents, one of us always is with her on the lookout and just to be sure... she is still afraid of being alone.

I sleep in her room, with the door open. Charlie wasn't too pleased with this arrangement , but Bella wanted it so he relented.

Het trust in me is huge, she sometimes comes to my bed to snuggle with me. She even kissed me once; that was yesterday, Bella even begins to smile again.

Charlie has found a new job, which was one of the reasons I get to stay with Bella at night. None of us felt at ease at the thought of her being alone at night, least of all Bella herself.

********************Taken********************

 _Dear me,_

 _I am free, I feel free...almost_

 _I am still afraid of being alone._

 _But Edward makes me feel stronger._

 _He sleeps in my room, so that I won't have to be afraid of the dark._

 _Dad found a new job. And when he is working I am at Edward's home or Edward is with me._

 _I kissed him...when I snuggled with him in his bed...sometimes I just need to feel his warmth and his strong arms around me._

 _I still haven't told him I love him... I think that will happen soon... he is my safe haven._

 _I still have to tell him the whole story. But I am scared he will see me as broken when I do._

 _Now he still looks at me with love in his eyes... I am afraid that will change then._

 _But I need to tell him, tell him he was the one who kept me sane. I fought for him._

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

It took her eight months to get the nerve to finally tell me everything.

I knew it was bad, but this was really bad..

I am so proud of her, for her to tell me.

And as a bonus she told me she loves me, she made me so happy.

Ever since she told me, we are becoming closer to one other.

She hugs and kisses me on every opportunity and she seems more free from the fear that lingers in her mind.

Even Charlie seems to notice a difference in her being.

We both graduated high school, with a halve year extra time due to her kidnapping.

We will be going to college after the summer break. This gives us some free time to find an apartment near college and to buy all the things we need to fill it.

Yes, we are going to live together and yes, our parents think it is OK.

 _********************_ _Taken_ _********************_

 _Yes, I told him everything and confessed my love for him._

 _It turns out to be the best thing ever._

 _We are closer than ever.. going to live together and attend the same college too._

 _Our parents are ok with it._

 _I feel better, I can see more clearly and analyze my fear and work on it._

 _James has been sentenced to 40 years in prison._

 _That too makes me feel safer. Now I know he can't come back after me._

 _I did go to him in prison to talk to him, Edward was with me, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way._

 _James looked so small and not the animal he once was to me._

 _He cried and told me he was sorry._

 _I don't know if I can believe him but it helped me concur the fear._

 _I will be fine, we will be fine._


End file.
